Written by: Arnold Furious
Joey Styles welcomes us to New York City. Paul Heyman is also out in the ring. We get to see the old ECW promo including all the old lucha guys they used to have. This is ECW’s first time in NYC. The Blue Meanie and Stevie Richards interrupt Joey’s intro. Stevie tells Joey the fans came to see him. Stevie insults the fans at ringside. Missy Hyatte is in the crowd. Missy swaps spit with Stevie as long as she gets a date with Raven. Is there anyone Missy wouldn’t “put over”? The ring announcer is Joel Gertner.
Taz v Koji Nakagawa
Fonzie is in Taz’s corner. Nakagawa slaps Taz. Oh, he’s dead. Release German Tazplex and Nakagawa lands on his head. Good lord, he’s dead. Taz no sells a dropkick and a shoulder block. Belly to belly Tazplex. Head and arm Tazplex and Nakagawa lands on his head again. Hardway Tazplex and a Tazmission and it’s over at 2.34. 1/2*. Complete squash. Crowd chant for “Sabu”.
“The Shah” Hack Myers v “The Italian Stallion” JT Smith
JT is black hence this is a comedy gimmick. They start with some mat wrestling (headlock takeovers with headscissors). JT Smith takes a time out to recover from getting wood. Scoop slam on the floor from JT and he drops an elbow from the top rope. Back inside JT hits a powerbomb for 2. JT attempts a split legged moonsault and lands on his neck hard. It’s at this point that I remember JT had a gimmick where he’d screw up moves but Jesus Christ that looked career ending. Double Koloff knee gets the win for the Shah at 4.39. DUD.
ECW TV/Tag titles – Too Cold Scorpio (c) v Mikey Whipwreck
Scorp is putting it all on the line including his tag partners belt. Some nice standing switches to start out. Mikey gets a roll up for 1. Scorpio works an armbar. Scorpio botches a spinning kick. Lethal kick from Scorpio. Running sequences end with a Mikey tilt-a-whirl headscissors and a pair of dropkicks. Scorpio bails so Mikey hits a slingshot senton. Back inside Scorpio dodges a top rope dive. Mikey escapes a powerbomb and hits a monkey flip. We cut to Missy Hyatte for no reason. Low blow from Scorpio. Drop suplex from Scorpio but he refuses to cover. Tombstone piledriver from Scorpio but he refuses to cover and hits a moonsault. He refuses to cover again. Powerbomb from Scorpio and he drops the bomb for 2 (that’s his moonsault flipping into a legdrop). Scorpio comes off the cover at 2 it wasn’t a kick out. Superkick from Scorpio. He spits on Mikey. Scorpio gets crotched and Mikey hits a rana off the top for 2. Scorpio misses the Stinger splash and gets rolled up for 2. Ref bump and Scorpio accidentally splashes the ref. Superkick on Mikey. Twisting splash from Scorpio but the ref is down. Backbreaker and a powerbomb from Scorpio. Cactus Jack does a run in and hits the double arm DDT on Scorpio. Mikey pins for the win at 11.53 and Cactus takes his place as Mikey’s tag team partner. **1/2. Scorpio has no clue how to put a match together and he was the senior guy. It wasn’t a bad match it just had no flow whatsoever. Mikey and Cactus celebrate, sort of. Mikey doesn’t want the belt that way so Cactus hits the Cactus clothesline on Scorpio.
The Eliminators w/Jason v The Pitbulls w/Francine
Hey, Saturn has hair! Double Steiner standoff with managers. Standing switches from Wolf and Saturn and Perry hits the Northern lights suplex for 2. Snap suplex from Wolf gets 2. The power men tag in. Running powerslam from Pitbull 2. Release dragon suplex from Kronus. Cool! They botch a few sequences. Crowd chant for “blood” and Saturn comes in. Jericho style springboard into a flying forearm off the apron from Saturn. Kronus assisted back flip over the ropes wipes out Pitbull 2 at ringside. Jason attacks Pitbull 2. Saturn misses Pitbull 2 with a plancha and gets Jason. Chair shots from Wolf to everyone. Kronus is bleeding. Eliminators get hit with a lot of plunder at ringside. In the ring Wolf hits a sidekick on Saturn. Kronus and Pitbull 2 tag in. Cartwheel splash from Kronus gets 2. Back suplex gets no sold by Pitbull 2. Double back suplex from the Pitbulls gets 2. Kronus is isolated and the Pitbulls do some double-teaming. Saturn gets the tag but Pitbull 2 tombstones him. Trip from Jason. Roundhouse sandwich on Pitbull 2. Kronus hits a 2nd buckle moonsault for 2. Top rope splash gets 2 for Kronus. Saturn tags in and hits a top rope splash for 2. Double underhook Tiger bomb from Saturn. Pitbull 2 starts no selling so Saturn takes his head off with a clothesline. Suplex with a crossbody from the top from the Eliminators gets 2. Sidewinder gets 2. Top rope elbow from Saturn which Pitbull 2 no sells. Pitbull 2 press throws Saturn over the ropes onto Jason at ringside but the distraction hurts them because Wolf had Kronus rolled up for 3. Spinning kick from Pitbull 2 and a belly to belly from Wolf on Kronus. Cactus clothesline off the shoulders of Pitbull 2 on Kronus. Bizarre. Superbomb on Saturn but Jason distracts the ref. Jason and Francine fight and Wolf goes out to protect Francine. Total Elimination on Pitbull 2 and it’s over at 16.13. ***. Long but good in places.
Tommy Dreamer comes out. He’s meant to be wrestling Raven in the feud that made them both. But out comes Stevie Richards, Blue Meanie and Beulah. Whoever wins this match will meet the Sandman later in the night for the ECW title. Stevie announces that Raven can’t wrestle tonight because he’s got a broken leg. Meanie attacks Dreamer and we have – a match? DDT from Dreamer and he pins Meanie for 3. Richards comes in and Dreamer reverses a hip toss into a DDT and he pins Richards as well. This brings in Beulah but before Dreamer can piledrive her in comes Raven.
Tommy Dreamer v Raven
Raven throws Dreamer into the guardrail a few times. He puts Dreamer on a table at ringside and hits a running pescado through it. Dreamer fights back and hits a DDT. Richards does a run in and gets a DDT too. Another DDT for Raven and another for Stevie and another for Raven and another for Stevie. That was a lot of DDT’s. Out at ringside Dreamer hits a chair shot. Cheese grater to the head of Raven. That brings out the blood. Dreamer nails Raven with fan plunder. They fight outside the building and onto Queens Boulevard and then back inside again. Raven takes over. Dreamer is busted big time. They get back into the ring and Dreamer hits the ref with an accidental flying forearm. Beulah interferes with hair spray and sprays Raven. Stevie comes in and Raven DDT’s him because he can’t see. Cool. DDT from Dreamer gets….2. Raven kicks out. Dreamer hangs Raven in the tree of woe and hits the 10 count punches to the groin. Ouch. Dreamer grabs a chunk of table and piledrives Raven through it for 2. Raven pulls the referee in the way of a chair shot. Superkick from Stevie Richards. Raven pins but the ref is down. Meaniesault misses. Raven hits a DDT on the chair for 3 at 11.36. ***. Good stuff. There was always something epic about their matches.
Bruiser Mastino v El Puerto Ricano
Mastino is a 400lb fatty. Ricano hits a few clotheslines and a dropkick but Mastino doesn’t go over. Mastino kills Ricano with a clothesline. Vertical suplex from Mastino. Belly to belly suplex from Mastino. 3 missile dropkicks from Ricano don’t get Mastino over. Mastino catches a fourth and hits a slam for 3 at 3.12. DUD. Total squash and not even an entertaining one. 911 comes out and chokeslams the shit out of Mastino. Fonzie comes out to claim the chokeslam had been banned so Todd Gordon comes out and kicks his ass. Taz comes out and squares off to 911. Mastino attacks 911 and gets shrugged off and chokeslammed again. The locker room comes out and breaks up Taz and 911. That was far more entertaining than the match and went on longer.
Stevie Richards, the Blue Meanie and the Dudleys are left in the ring. Bubba Dudley comes out as well with Big Dick. Bubba dances. Meanie takes exception to Bubba’s foot skills. Richards isn’t impressed. Bubba’s facial expressions are magnificent here. He looks heartbroken when Richards tells him that “Raven isn’t going to be happy with you”. Bubba gets the mic “Stevie – f*ck you and your Blue Meanie”. Impromptu match!
Bubba Dudley v Blue Meanie
Meaniesault gets 2. Bubba is pissed off. Big Dick doesn’t want to see a powerbomb for some unexplained reason. Top rope splash from Bubba wins it at 1.10. DUD. Hmm. Big Dick comes in and chokeslams Meanie. I guess that showed the Meanie. He’s wrestled twice and lost twice in less than 2 minutes total. The Dudleys walk out on Stevie Richards.
ECW title – The Sandman (c) w/Woman v Raven w/entourage
This is the first time they’ve met one on one. Sandman drinks a couple of beers before the match. Raven whips Sandman into the guardrail on the outside and it breaks. Sandman blocks a DDT on the floor. Raven gets set up on the guardrail and Sandman hits a guillotine legdrop. Sandman hits some ugly looking elbow drops. Snap suplex from Raven gets 2. Raven gets dumped into the fans and Sandman hits a leaping cane shot over the guardrail. Rolling shoulder misses but Sandman is hardly Eddie Guerrero. Raven bails and Sandman hits a pescado. Sandman suplexes a table on Raven. Sandman whips Raven through a table at ringside but it just looked wrong. Sandman goes to drop an elbow on Raven under the remains of the table but Raven escapes and Sandman hurts himself. Back inside and there’s a ref bump. Stevie Richards does a run in so Woman canes him. Woman canes Raven and he ignores it. Raven canes the shit out of the Sandman. Dreamer does a run in and canes everyone. Piledriver on Beulah. Cactus Jack does a run in and double arm DDT’s Sandman. Raven pins for 2. Sandman blocks a superplex and bulldogs Raven off the top for 3 at 13.16. *1/2. Too long with too much interference.
Public Enemy v Gangstas
I hate both these teams so I’m not looking forward to reviewing this. New Jack uses a fork or something. Moonsault press on Mustafa gets 2 for Rocco. Everyone is bleeding already. Loads of plunder shots. Rocco gets put through a table. Mustafa gets 2 from a powerslam. Stun gun from New Jack nearly gets the fall but Rocco is saved by Grunge. Rocco moonsaults Mustafa through a table, which doesn’t break. Mustafa puts Rocco through a table but it happened off camera so I don’t know how. Inverted DDT from Grunge and a senton from Rocco but the referee isn’t paying attention. Rocco gets a chair in the face and Mustafa rolls him up to stop the pain at 8.26. DUD.
Cactus Jack v Sabu
Cactus claims he’s going to have an Olympic style match with Sabu. He brings out John Moore to referee the match under NCAA rules (no striking, take downs count for points etc). 911 comes down and chokeslams Peewee twice. 911 is the new referee. Cactus bails to avoid Air Sabu. Air Sabu over the ropes! Styles is keeping score under Olympic rules. V. funny. Guillotine legdrop from Sabu. Springboard sidekick from Sabu gets 1. Cactus elbows out of Air Sabu. Cactus chair shots Sabu. Double arm DDT gets 2. Double arm DDT on a chair gets 2. Sabu bails and Cactus hits the running chair dive off the apron. Sabu throws the chair at Cactus and proceeds to belt him with it a couple of times. They go back inside and Cactus hangs himself up in the ropes (that’s how he lost his ear). Air Sabu knocks him out. Sabu misses a chair dive to the outside and he lands on the guardrail. Cactus is checking his head to make sure he still has one and a half ears. Sabu gets set up on the timekeeper’s table and Cactus goes up the ropes. Chair shot from Sabu and he throws Cactus to the floor. Sabu sets Cactus up on a chair at ringside and goes back in for the suicide dive! Fantastic. Springboard sidekick w/chair from Sabu. Chair shot from Sabu and a low blow. Cactus on the apron and Sabu hits a chair-assisted crossbody to take him to the floor through the table from earlier. Inside cradle from Cactus gets a near fall. Arabian press w/chair but Sabu is too hurt to cover. Legdrop misses for Cactus. Chair shot from Sabu. Atomic Arabian facebuster gets 2. Sabu reverses a slam into a crossbody for the pin at 12.59. ***1/2. Match of the night but the finish was disappointing.
Best matches –
3. Eliminators v Pitbulls. Entertaining tag match. Too much interference though.
2. Tommy Dreamer v Raven. Good to see some of the good old days of ECW but it also reminded me that it wasn’t good for everyone. These guys it was good for.
1. Cactus Jack v Sabu. Weird to see Sabu that mobile. Still they didn’t let this go quite long enough. The finish felt too early.
Overall event rating – D
Unless you really, really like Mick Foley I wouldn’t bother with this show. Raven-Dreamer is cool to see but everything else isn’t worth the time.